In order to minimize injury to occupants of a vehicle in the event that the vehicle be involved in a collision, vehicles are nowadays equipped with seat belts and, in many cases, airbag systems. It has been shown that risk of injury is greatly reduced when occupants wear the seat belts provided in the vehicle. Nevertheless, many vehicle occupants, either for physical or psychological reasons, do not make use of the seat belts. As a result, if the vehicle is involved in a collision, the occupant may be thrown forward such that the knees of the occupant impact the dashboard, possibly leading to injury to the occupant. Legislation in the United States (FMVSS 208) stipulates maximum values for the forces to which the femur of a vehicle occupant may be subjected in the event of a collision. Accordingly, knee protection systems have been developed with the intention of minimizing both the risk of submarining and of injury to the front seat occupants of a vehicle.
A knee protector device for installation inside a vehicle dashboard is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,270 and comprises a protector body and a pair of spaced-apart brackets connected to the protector body. Each bracket is constituted by a lower portion and an upper portion.
Because the protector body extends transversely between the brackets, the device is relatively bulky. Given the number of components which have to be housed within a vehicle dashboard, it would be advantageous to provide a system which required less space. Furthermore, the brackets of the above-identified system are relatively complex, something which leads to increased production costs.
Another knee protection system employing a pair of spaced-apart brackets is known from DE-A-195 11 512. One end of the brackets is secured to a transversely extending support member within the vehicle dashboard, whilst the free ends of the brackets are secured to a panel of the dashboard. The panel is specifically designed to transmit impact forces from the knees of an occupant to the brackets. One disadvantage with the system disclosed in said document is that because the brackets are secured to the dashboard, close production tolerances are required. This disadvantage is shared by the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,494.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,319 discloses a passenger knee protection device which is provided with means for restricting movement of equipment within the dashboard into the passenger compartment of the vehicle in the event of a collision. The system works in combination with a glove compartment within the dashboard. A disadvantage with this known system is the amount of space which it occupies within the dashboard.